Retractable lateral control aileron



Oct. 3, 1939.

F. E. WEICK RETRACTABLE LATERAL CONTROL AILERON Filed Dec. 22, 1937 INVENTOR Fred E. We/ck BY ATTORNEY Patented a. 3, 1939 RETRACTABLE LATERAL CONTROL AILERON Fred E. Weick, Bethesda, Md.

Application December 22, 1937, Serial No. 181,149

i Claim.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3'10 0. o. 751) This invention relates to retractable lateral control ailerons, and has for an object to provide an improved lateral control means on aircraft which has the advantage of providing a more efiicient control means than is available with the present conventional type of ailerons.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lateral control means which may extend the full length of the aircraft wing, and at the same time may be used, and is especially intended for use, in combination with an aircraft which is provided with a full span split flap for providing a downwardly defiectable wind brake or liit increasing device along its trailing edge.

provide a lateral control means which will cause either wing to deflect downwardly without increasing the drag on the other wing, thereby increasing thelefiective control of the aircraft.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a lateral control means on aircraft wings which may be operated by the aircraft joy stick in the usual manner as ordinary trailing edge ailerons and which will give the same feel as to J the ordinary ailerons, and may therefore be operated by the pilot without having to learn any new process of operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawing, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective schematic view of an aircraft to which this invention has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view on line 2-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic sectional view oi a difierent type of optrating mechanism of this invention;

Fig. i is a schematic sectional view of yet an-= other operating mechanism and showing the same in combination with a split or lift increasing flap, and

Fig. 5 is a slightly modified form of Fig. 4. s

5 There is shown at It an aircraft including a fuselage H, a pilots cockpit l2, a control or joy stick [3, and aircraft wings It. The aircraft wings l4, instead of being provided with the ordinary trailing edge ailerons are each provided with 50 slidable, retractable ailerons l5 set somewhat for.-

ward of the trailing edge l8, and constituting the essence of this invention. Slidable, retractable aileron i5 is shown as being in a curved form in cross-section, but may equally well be a fiat @5 plate. This slidable retractable aileron i5 is piv 1. Still a further object of this invention is to cessed completely into the aircraft wing, mov- 5 ing the aileron it to the position l5 and moving the lower arm 22 to position 22', while the upper arm it moves to the positionv is, thus providing 'a smooth airfoil surface on top of the aircraft wing it while it is in retracted position. Control 10 rods 2d are connected through a suitable diflere'ntial linkage M to retract the aileron it to position l5.

In operation, when the control or joy stick-I3 is held in neutral position, the ailerons IE on 15 both aircrait wings it will remain in retracted position recessed within the aircraft wings. Movement of the joy stick it in either right or left direction will cause the corresponding aileron IE to slide upwardly out of the aircrait wing 86 to the 3p position is, dependent upon the amount 05 movement of joy stick Due to the diflferentlal linkage 2i the movement of the ailerons l5 will feel the same as would ordinary ailerons, that is, there will he no jerk, such as present with a 5 straight linkage it employed to change the ailerons from a position of absolute rest to quick motion, as the joystick isoperated across the neutral position. Likewise, aileron 65 tends to retract itselfto the position i5, due to the slight 3c moment oi force about pivot ll, present from the fact that i8 is slightly longer than supporting arm 22, so that the pressure thereon tends to urge the aileron 55 to position l5, thereby tending to normally return the joy stick to neutral posi- 5 tion, as happens with ordinary trailing edge ailerons.

In Fig. 3 the aircraft wing 25 has a retractable aileron 25 which travels and is guided between a v plurality of bearings 21? and 2t, operated by a 40 difierential linkage 29 connected to the joy stick.

- To assist in urging this aileron 26 towards the neutral position it, the aileron plate 30 thereof is shown as being positioned at a slight angleto that of the aileron 26 itself, the air pressure of course exerting itself against the aileron plate 36.

In Fig. i the aileron frame 35 is shown with its aileron plate 36 supported on an arm 31' pivoted at 38 to asupport 3S and provided with control cables 4% and M connected to a bracket 42 on arm 31? and to arm extension 43. A bearing 4 may be provided for assisting in supporting the lower edge of the aileron frame 35 when in extended position, the aircraft wing 46 being provided with a slot ll whereby the aileron may be 2 recessed to thepos'itio'n It within the aircraft wing. In this case the trailingvedge ll of the aircraft wing 46 is shown as being provided with a split flap ll pivoted at I and actuatable by any suitable control. Due to theposition of the aileron plate 36 in advance of the trailing edge 48 both the aileron It and the split flap 49 may occupy as much of the wing span as desirable without interfering with each other. For the same reasons the split flap 0 may be used in conblnatlon with any of the other forms of ailerons disclosed in the preceding figures, as shown diagrammatically at I and II.

It will be understood, however, that the aileron of this invention may likewise be used on an air craft wing not having the split flap.

In Fig. 5 the aileron IN is shown with the aileron plate I at an angle other than that of an arc of a circle about the pivot of arm I31 so that there is a slight moment of force about the axis of rotation, tending to urge the aileron I 35 through the $10 into the aircraft wing I, an arc I55 of the c cle about theplvot of the arm I31 being shown in dotted line position so that the difference in the angle of aileron I" may be more readily appreciated.

Other modifications and changes in the proportions and arrangements of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departthereon or therefor.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

Lateral control means for aircraft comprising a pair of ailerons slidably and retractably mounted within the aircraft wing, uide bearings for said ailerons within the aircraft wing, said guide bearings providing a trackway extending rearwardly and upwardly through the aircraft wing adjacent the rear edge thereof, each said aileron comprising a curved framework movable in its trackway and aliiat plate supported in said curved framework, and control means completely within the aircraft wing for slidably extending the one or the other of said ailerons rearwardly and upwardly along said trackway above the aircraft wing to extend said flat plate at a rearwardly extending angle to the line of flight,

and providing a moment of force urging said aileron into retracted position within the aircraft wing on-reveraal of the control means: v 

